The present system relates to microgrid modeling and management tools.
One of the expected advantages of microgrids is having higher availability compared to the current electrical grid. Microgrids use controlled distributed energy resources (DERs) to generate power which makes isolated operation of microgrids possible, thus improving local availability of energy supply. On the other hand, availability becomes more of an issue when greater capacity of renewable energy sources (RESs) are used to generate power within microgrids. This is mostly because of highly variable and intermittent nature of power generation by RESs. Hence, it is necessary to maintain the advantage of high availability that microgrids have even when a large amount of RESs' generation takes place within microgrids.
Energy storage system can improve microgrids availability; however, calculating the amount of improved availability is challenging. This is mainly due to the charging and discharging processes that take place in energy storage system, which makes it difficult to predict how much power is available from energy storage system during microgrids' operation. The presented work in this IR investigates the effect of energy storage systems on the availability of microgrids with different architectures in the presence of RESs.
There are various strategies to improve the availability when RESs are included to generate power; one of the strategies is to add energy storage system. When added, energy storage system can immediately improve microgrids availability; however, calculating the amount of improved availability is not simple and easy. This is mainly due to the charging and discharging processes that take place in energy storage system and makes it difficult to predict how much power is available from energy storage system during microgrids' operation.